Page "The Three Stooges" Paragraph 17

The World War II era also brought on rising production costs that resulted in a reduced number of elaborate gags and outdoor sequences, Del Lord's stock and trade ; as such, the quality of the teams ' films ( particularly those directed by Lord ) began to slip after 1942.

According to Okuda and Watz, entries like Loco Boy Makes Good, What's the Matador ?, Sock-A-Bye Baby, I Can Hardly Wait and A Gem of a Jam are considered to be less quality work than previous efforts, and in a different class than their earlier films.

The 1943 film Spook Louder, a remake of Mack Sennett's The Great Pie Mystery, is often cited as their worst film.

The story of a phantom pie-thrower ( later revealed to be the detective on the case ) is repetitious and relying on the same jokes, which many Stooge fans consider to be far less humorous than their past work.

Three Smart Saps, a film considered to be an improvement, features a reworking of a routine from Harold Lloyd's The Freshman, in which Curly's loosely basted suit begins to come apart at the seams while he is on the dance floor.